Coming out day held at GCSU

On Oct. 11, the Gay-Straight Alliance held its own National Coming Out Day on Front Campus.
    According to the University of Kansas Medical Center, National Coming Out Day is an international event which gives gay, lesbian and bisexual people the opportunity to “come out” to others about their sexuality. It also provides a means of increasing the visibility of gay people.
    The day is held to make people feel comfortable coming out, whether it is their first time ever, or the first time telling someone new, Chelsea Bruner, the president of Gay-Straight Alliance, said.
    “I have friends that have been out since the ’70s and ’80s; they take the day to come out to someone new,” Bruner said. “Coming out is a process that people think you come out and you only do it once; it’s kind of a lifelong thing that you have to keep doing.”
    And Bruner knows this from her personal experience. She began to come out to a few individuals in high school, but she didn’t tell the rest of her family until she was in college.
    “I came out to my mom and dad in high school. I was out to one friend in high school, and she told me to tell none of my other friends because it would be a bad thing,”
Bruner said. “She seemed to accept me at first, but then she tried to set me up with a lot of guys. It’s not that I (really) tried to hide it in high school, because I didn’t go out with guys or anything like that, it’s just not that it was something (anyone) could talk about.”
    An incident during her first week of college caused her to tell her mom’s side of the family and her dad’s side of the family.
    “A big event that stirred (my coming out) was my first roommate finding out that I was joining GSA, because when I came to college, I decided I was going to be honest,” Bruner said.  “(My roommate) asked what groups I was joining, and I told her.”
    Bruner said that her roommate did not even ask her what her sexual orientation was, she just assumed, even though not everyone in GSA is GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender).
    “After that, I slowly started coming out to my dad’s side of the family, first to the people who I knew (might) be more supportive,” Bruner said. “The last person to find out was my dad. I took those steps in college.”
    Bruner said the reason National Coming Out Day is observed at GCSU is many GLBT students continue to face difficulties here on campus.
    “It’s (National Coming Out Day) relevant because so many people on campus still face problems when they’re perceived as GLBT or are openly GLBT,” Bruner said. “This day is just to show how many people these words and insults are hurting. People get yelled at from cars, and they get threats…This is just to show you’re hurting more people than you think by doing (this).”
    Noelle Rose, a member of GSA, thinks this day is important to those who aren’t GLBT, as well as those who are.
    “I think the day is important, especially here on campus, because it brings awareness to the community about the issues dealing with homosexuality and the coming out process,” Rose said. “Days like NCOD are important to everyone, not just gay people, whether they see it as such or not, because it’s saying  ‘be who you are,’ and so it doesn’t necessarily apply to homosexuals, though they are the main group of people being addressed; it also applies to anyone else who just wants to be themselves. Being an individual and being who you are is more important than being gay, and though NCOD addresses gay issues directly, there is also an underlying message of, ‘Just be yourself.’”
    Crystal Turnbull, also a member of GSA, thinks the day is important as well.
    “Spend years not being able to feel like yourself,” Turnbull said.  “You lock who you are away inside, never letting the true you show because society tells you that you’re wrong for feeling this way. They tell you you’re sick, you’re perverted, and worst of all, you’re going to burn in hell for being gay. Well, this is why we have National Coming Out Day.”
    She said this day is to show the fact that everyone is human – gay or straight – and our basic need for acceptance.
    “We need this day to tell those who can’t see past their own ignorance that the gay community is here and is proud to be here. This is a day of support, a much needed support,” said Turnbull.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 13 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry